Compensation costs for private industry workers increased 3.7 percent in the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area (CSA) for the year ended September 2025, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported today. Regional Commissioner Chris Rosenlund noted that one year ago, San Jose experienced an annual gain of 5.3 percent in compensation costs. (See chart 1 and table 1.) Nationwide, compensation costs rose 3.5 percent in September 2025.

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Chart 1. Twelve-month percent changes in total compensation for private industry workers in the United States and San Jose, not seasonally adjusted

Quarter	San Jose	United States
Sep 2023	3.3	4.3
Dec	2.7	4.1
Mar	4.4	4.1
Jun	4.8	3.9
Sep 2024	5.3	3.6
Dec	6.3	3.6
Mar	3.8	3.4
Jun	3.3	3.5
Sep 2025	3.7	3.5

Locally, wages and salaries, the largest component of compensation costs, advanced at a 3.9-percent pace for the 12-month period ended September 2025. (See chart 2.) Nationwide, wages and salaries rose 3.6 percent over the same period.

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Chart 2. Twelve-month percent changes in wages and salaries for private industry workers in the United States and San Jose, not seasonally adjusted

Quarter	San Jose	United States
Sep 2023	3.5	4.5
Dec	2.8	4.3
Mar	4.7	4.3
Jun	5.2	4.1
Sep 2024	5.4	3.8
Dec	6.6	3.7
Mar	3.5	3.4
Jun	3.1	3.5
Sep 2025	3.9	3.6

San Jose is 1 of 15 metropolitan areas in the United States and 1 of 4 areas in the West region of the country for which locality compensation cost data are available. Among these 15 largest areas, over-the-year percentage changes in compensation costs ranged from 5.7 percent in Miami-Port St. Lucie-Fort Lauderdale to 2.1 percent in Detroit-Warren-Ann Arbor in September 2025; for wages and salaries, Miami registered the largest increase (5.9 percent), and Washington-Baltimore-Arlington registered the smallest (1.9 percent). (See chart 3.)

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Chart 3. Twelve-month percent changes in total compensation and wages and salaries for private industry workers by area, not seasonally adjusted, September 2025

Area	Total compensation	Wages and salaries
Detroit	2.1	3.3
Washington	2.2	1.9
Atlanta	2.9	2.8
Phoenix	3.1	2.6
Boston	3.3	3.2
Los Angeles	3.4	3.4
Philadelphia	3.4	3.4
United States	3.5	3.6
Dallas	3.7	3.5
Minneapolis	3.7	3.6
San Jose	3.7	3.9
New York	3.8	3.9
Chicago	4.0	3.9
Houston	4.5	5.0
Seattle	4.7	4.3
Miami	5.7	5.9

The annual increase in compensation costs in San Jose was 3.7 percent in September 2025, compared to advances that ranged from 4.7 percent to 3.1 percent in the three other metropolitan areas in the West (Los Angeles-Long Beach, Phoenix-Mesa, and Seattle-Tacoma). San Jose’s 3.9-percent gain in wages and salaries over this 12-month period compared to rates ranging from 4.3 percent to 2.6 percent in the three other western localities. (See table 2.)

Locality compensation costs are part of the national Employment Cost Index (ECI), which measures quarterly changes in compensation costs (wages and salaries and employer costs for employee benefits) free from the influence of employment shifts among occupations and industries. More information can be found in the national Employment Cost Index Technical Note. For information on survey concepts, coverage, methods, nonresponse adjustment, and imputation see the National Compensation Measures Handbook of Methods.

In addition to the data presented here, ECI national data by industry, occupational group, and union status, as well as data for civilian, private, and state and local government employees, are available on the Employment Cost Index website. The national Employment Cost Index Summary is also available online. Additional information for regions, states, and local areas may be accessed via our Western Information Office regional homepage.

The substate area data published in this news release reflect the Office of Management and Budget Bulletin No. 13-01, dated February 28, 2013. See the Classification Systems Used by the National Compensation Survey for more information on available geographies.

San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA CSA includes Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano, Sonoma, and Stanislaus Counties in California.

Information in this release will be made available to individuals with sensory impairments upon request. Voice phone: (202) 691-5200; Telecommunications Relay Service: 7-1-1.